17year old girl raped and thrown into well

A 17 year old 12^th standard student was allegedly raped by a gang of youths and thrown into a well in RK Pet near Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district on Monday. The incident came to light on Tuesday after some villagers spotted her body in the well and informed the police. Four youngsters from surrounding villages have been detained in this connection.

The police said the deceased, E Gayathiri of Eknapuram village, usually attended tuition after school before cycling back home. On Monday, when she didn't come home even by 9pm, her parents rushed to the local police station and lodged a complaint. A case was registered and a hunt was launched. After about five hours, the police and some of her relatives found her books near a well in the neighboring village.

The next day, local residents found her body floating in the well and called the police who pulled out the body with the help of locals.

"We found her textbooks near the well on Monday but it was dark and we couldn't search the well for her body," a police officer said.

A piece of white cotton cloth had been used to gag her and there were a few scratches on her body, the officer said. The body was then sent for postmortem to the Tiruttani Government Hospital where doctors declared that she had died before being thrown into the water.

"She was killed by a gang. The doctors who examined her body said she had been raped before being done to death," Tiruvallur superintendent of police V Vanitha told ToI. "It seems to be a gang rape," a doctor said. However, the doctors in Tiruttani have approached forensic experts in Chennai for advice before submitting their final report.

Meanwhile, a special police team detained four youngsters from surrounding villages. "We suspect the youths harboured a grudge against the girl. Last month, they had teased her near a playground while she was returning from school and were warned by the girl and her brother the next day," Tiruttani DSP S Manickam told TOI.

The police are hunting for three others in this connection. "We are looking at the case from several angles. We are also suspecting a few persons who are said to have had some dispute with the girl's family," Vanitha said. The girl's relatives said they plan to approach the state commission for women and state human rights commission for justice.